Some of these cancelled animated films could have been amazing

Illustrators and animators have no shortage of inspiration from the best animated movies. But the history of animation is full of examples of promising projects that never saw the light of day despite hours of work going into sketches, visual development and character design.

A free online book now seeks to rescue these abandoned projects from oblivion, showcasing the art of some of the most intriguing cancelled animated films. From DreamWorks' Me and My Shadow to Satoshi Kon's 'Dreaming Machine and Disney's Joe Jump, it's a wonderful resource that could provide animators with more sources of inspiration for their own work (also see our guide to the best 2D animation software).

Drawing for Nothing is the result of years of extensive research undertaken by Ziggy Cashmere (AKA Jacob Pruitt) and a team of fans, researchers and archivists who trawled the internet for resources, from animation reels to portfolios and resumes, books, interviews and more. The result is an open-ended online resource packed with development artwork and even links to animation tests from troubled animated films that didn't make it to the screen.

Some cancelled movies covered in the book are well known – Me and My Shadow has a huge fanbase for a film that wasn't made – while others are more obscure. Jacob says the purpose is to "not only properly appreciate the work put into things that never got the chance to be appreciated, but to give artists another source of inspiration. There's a ton of things to be inspired by now, but what about the things that never made it? The things that were deemed too risky or not good enough?"

He originally made a mockup for an art book dedicated to Nelvana's 1983 film Rock & Rule, which was a flop on its release. "I thought it would be cool for all of that incredible production design to be showcased properly in some kind of coffee table book," Jacob says. He moved on to other things, and the Rock & Rule book never happened, but he came back to this idea of wanting to rescue the art from obscure or cancelled movies.

"I don't even remember how I came up with the name, it just kinda happened, and it snowballed from there," Jacob says. "I think what inspired me was knowing that there was so much art out there for movies that don't exist, so I took it upon myself to properly put it together in an approachable format with the help of those who are obsessed as I am."

For his research, Jacob trawls wikis and seeks out the names of people that worked on cancelled projects, then he and his team comb through their portfolios and start to theorise on who else might have worked on the project due to being at the studio around the same time. "Usually, this works out fairly well. But there's always something we missed that pops up later on Instagram or an abandoned blog," he says. 

Now his endeavours are becoming known, he also sometimes gets handed resources directly from artists. This was the case for an upcoming chapter on Disney's Wild Life and the chapters on Larrikins and Foodfight! "Much of the crew who worked on these films are more than happy to talk about their experience and share what they have," Jacob says, although he has also been denied permission to use some work due to legal concerns.

I was interested if Jacob had a favourite animated movie that never was; one he really wishes had been made. "I think right now my favorites would be Me and My Shadow, The Shadow King, and Wild Life, he says. But if I had to pick just one of those three to see as a fully fleshed out movie, I'd probably pick The Shadow King. I really love the setting, the characters, the plot, and I'm just a fan of stop motion films in general. It's a shame what happened to it and I think it should've been completed given that so much work had been put into it already.

"But I can't help but think what Me and My Shadow would've been like if it were finished. If that Owl City soundtrack would've been any good, if the ending they kept changing would've worked. Same goes for Wild Life, one of the most unique Disney projects I've ever come across (and would've been their first CGI film!). I mean can you imagine a Disney movie with a main character voiced by Madonna and the entire thing is set in the 70s? It would have been a blast. I can't wait to cover that."

Drawing for Nothing is available to view online or to download as a free PDF document. The beauty of this format is that it remains a work in process. Jacob says the team plans to continue updating the book with new chapters to the extent that he expects it "will never be finished”. After all, there will always be new cancelled movies to include.

For more on animation, see our own character design tips and the Disney principles of animation. We also have a guide to buying the best laptop for animation.